The traditional middle-class taboo against signing on for welfare is breaking down.

It’s not long ago that claiming all sorts of benefits, even if you were theoretically entitled to them, was anathema to much of the middle classes. Plenty of older people didn’t even sign up for bus passes, for example – not merely due to a taboo about being needy, but out of a sense of obligation not to take costly help from the state if they could afford to manage without it.

But new analysis of the rising number of PIP claimants shows that within the big headline growth lies a clear social trend. The fastest increases, and the highest proportional rises, are happening in more affluent areas.

It’s certainly the case that the better off are well-equipped to access benefits like PIP, given that many have the resources to pay for private medical assessments rather than wait in the lengthy queues, and that they can afford appeals. Analysis by The Telegraph suggests the least deprived areas generate 47 per cent more appeals to the Special Educational Needs tribunal than the most deprived, and 33 per cent more than the average neighbourhood.

Not coincidentally, polling by Public First finds that the top socio-economic tiers have the highest rate of satisfaction with the way PIP is assessed.

But their capacity to navigate the system successfully doesn’t explain........

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